Hostile Architecture

I’m fairly certain all of you have come across a bench with an iron bar attached in the middle, or sometimes even one that resembles an art installation than a bench. These are examples of hostile architecture. The seemingly pointless, misplaced concrete spikes under bridges or metal nubs, jagged rocks and poles along sidewalks or in small empty spaces have a sinister intention. No loitering and no homeless people allowed.

Sometimes hostile architecture is used to prevent skateboarding in public areas. While skateboarding may erode public structures and could cause harm to pedestrians, I disagree that this actually does any substantial harm to anyone. In fact, it has proved to bring life to abandoned lots. For instance, LOVE Park in Philadelphia was once home to drug dealers and gang activity, until skateboarders started to flood the park. Soon, workers from surrounding buildings and citizens started using the park again, and it was revitalized. If skateboarding poses safety issues with pedestrians, Rue Leon Cladel Alley Skatepark in Paris is a multi-purpose space with coloured pavement to indicate skateboarding spaces.

However, most hostile architecture exist to prevent the homeless from using the space. This is because crime rates increase where the homeless accumulate, and frankly, it just looks bad. Then why are people homeless? Some may have the audacity to say that the homeless are just lazy, unashamed and unmotivated people. But the top causes for homelessness are addiction, domestic violence, mental illness, sudden unemployment and lack of affordable housing due to economic instability. In America, 2023, 34,703 unaccompanied youth were counted homeless. This means that the youth in question is without a parent or guardian. Of those, 40.8 percent were unsheltered. Often times these young adults are kicked out of their family due to domestic violence, religion, sexual orientation and more. They are subject to sexual trafficking, various crimes and discrimination. Without a place to properly clean themselves or wash their clothes, it is near impossible for a homeless person to “go get a job”. Substance abuse, addiction and mental illnesses should be professionally treated, and if a state or city does not want addicts and the mentally ill on their streets, they should invest in welfare and rehabilitation programs, not get rid of possible shelters. Sometimes, it seems, that the homeless are not seen as citizens or even human beings. Considering that people of color and members of the LGBTQA+ community and the mentally ill are more likely to become homeless, this shows how ignorant some members of society can be.

Not only is hostile architecture ignorant of the homeless looking for shelter, /// disabled people, pregnant women and the elderly need proper seats. The leaning bars in New York City subways serve no purpose other than to provide a small bit of comfort to mostly able-bodied citizens. Even then, perfectly healthy people also get tired, and the leaning bench offers no proper resting space. Now there are no occupiable space without paying for something. Bumbling cafes do not mean the coffee is particularly good there, but rather that it is hot or cold outside, and the opposite inside. Parks have no loitering signs, comfy public benches are a thing of the past, and there is absolutely nothing one can do outside to pass the time without buying a cup of coffee. Time and space itself, it seems, has become capitalized.

Public spaces are meant to provide comfort to the general public without discrimination against physical and economic situation. If there is a homeless problem, that is due to the city’s inability to properly support its own citizens. Discreetly forcing the vulnerable out of sight is not the correct way to respond to a very real and consistent issue and will not ultimately stop crimes from taking place.

Don’t we sometimes forget that the idea of a society was created to support the weak and to share strength? Especially nowadays, when resources are more than abundant and always readily available to the privileged, why are we marginalizing the exploited, the ignored, and the homeless?